28.12.11

Saving Time: Find The Key You Need Fast

by Robin

Like many stories of life with small children, this one involves a
puddle of pee. Add in some keys in the toilet, plus a bit of nail
polish and you've got a funny story ending with a neat way to find your
keys fast. When I saw this idea on the Real Simple website I knew it was for me. It's cheap, easy, practical and a little bit pretty.

I had the cutest key do-hickeys up until about a year ago. These Six Monkey Keycaps. I love monkeys. (For example, I upholstered monkey fabric on my dining room chairs. That is true love. Fully clothed monkeys in poufy hats and knickerbockers. Makes me chuckle just describing them.) Sadly, my key monkeys met a tragic end.

It was a busy day at work: I was running around between teaching and checking on the children's program. As I flitted from room to room, I needed my keys. What better place to keep them than my pants pocket? I have now learned: there are much better places. A quick washroom break and, "Splash". My monkey covered keys were now drowned in the bottom of the toilet bowl. A public toilet. Ick. (I debated just flushing the keys and cutting my losses. But I work 35 km from home. That's a bit too far for me to walk.) I rescued the keys, but there was no saving the monkeys. After a very thorough sanitizing my keys no longer had the colourful monkeys guiding me to the key I needed.

That brings us to the puddle. Driving home from swimming lessons, my son proclaimed, "I HAVE TO GO PEE!". I floored it. We ran up to the front door with moments to spare. I tried every damn key to find the one for the front door. Three keys later, he made it to the bathroom, but not quite all the way to the toilet. Sigh.

I needed a new way to mark my keys. Here it is. I won't insult you
with a tutorial. Basically, you dab a coat of different coloured nail
polish on each key. Let it dry.